1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a steering lock device for a vehicle, including an ignition switch.
2. Related Art
As a steering lock device for a vehicle, those with the following configurations are widely known.
Referring to a steering lock device described, for example, in JP 7-32973 A as a first conventional example, a tubular holder is fixed to a font side in a hollow body and a cylindrical key cylinder which becomes rotatable when a key is inserted is provided in the holder. Also, between a middle part and a rear side in the body, a camshaft which rotates integrally with the key cylinder is extended, and a lock bolt which operates orthogonally to a rotary shaft of the key cylinder is moved forward and backward by a cam provided to the camshaft.
Thus, the lock bolt moves forward and backward corresponding to the rotation of the key cylinder and is locked to/unlocked from a recessed groove of a steering shaft to lock or unlock the rotation of the steering shaft. Also, to a rear end of the body, an ignition switch is provided. The ignition switch is an engine starting switch to which rotation force of the key cylinder is transferred through the camshaft and which performs switch operation.
The steering lock device of the first conventional example is arranged on a side of a lower surface of the steering shaft which is elongated in a longitudinal direction of a vehicle. That is, to make it easy for a driver to see a meter or the like through a steering wheel, the steering lock device is not arranged on a side of an upper surface of the steering shaft.
However, when the steering lock device is arranged on the side of the lower surface of the steering shaft, in a case of a vehicle clash, a knee or the like of a driver may be hit by the steering lock device and may be damaged. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a structure of security measures for such damage with the steering lock device, and thus, cost increase is caused.
Thus, to solve a problem of such damage described above, a steering lock device, which includes a configuration in which an ignition switch is arranged to one side of a steering shaft, has been proposed (for example, in JP 2006-111124 A: second conventional example). That is, in the steering lock device, an outer cylinder is fixed to a front side of a body and a key cylinder, which becomes movable when a key is inserted, is provided in the outer cylinder. Also, at a rear end of the body, a steering lock mechanism which includes a cam configured to rotate integrally with the key cylinder and which is moved forward and backward, by the cam, in a direction of a rotary shaft of the key cylinder to lock or unlock a steering shaft is included. Moreover, in a side part on a rear side of the body, an ignition switch is provided.
The steering lock device of the second conventional example configured in such a manner is arranged to one side of a steering shaft, and thus, even in a case of a vehicle clash, a knee or the like of a driver is not hit by the steering lock device. Thus, the steering lock device solves the problem of the damage above.
Moreover, the steering lock device described above may include a key detection switch other than an ignition switch. The key detection switch detects whether a key is inserted into a key cylinder, and is an alarm device to prevent a key from being confined in a vehicle by issuing an alert in a case where a door is closed with the key being inserted.